Thaw a Frozen Heart
by jdmusiclover
Summary: During the final battle with the Snow Queen, Emma must make a decision. Can she fully give in to her feelings for Killian? Can she fight for him as he's always fought for her...or will she have to let him go? Speculation for the end of the Frozen arc.


It happened in the blink of an eye. In one blinding, terrifying moment, Emma's whole world shifted on its axis.

They say that when you're about to die your whole life flashes before your eyes. Emma now knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that something similar happened just before your true love dies.

Every moment of her…whatever it was…with Killian crossed her mind, from the moment she first laid eyes on him, buried beneath a mountain of corpses to the moment two days past when the shard of ice hit his heart and his coldness and indifference became _unbearable_.

Every emotion she'd ever felt for the pirate, for the man, played before her. From distrust, to grudging respect, to more distrust, to desire, to admiration, to aching fear, to affection, to hurt, to need, to…to…_love_.

Up until his emotions had been utterly wiped away, he'd fought for her, fought beside her, pushed her, supported her, believed in her, loved her with every fiber of his being. She'd basked in the warmth of it…but she'd always held herself back from fully reciprocating.

But now, here they were at the deciding moment of yet another battle with yet another twisted villain, and Killian, _her Killian_ was gone, supplanted by this mind-numbed robot who wore his handsome face.

The Snow Queen raised her hands, a look of triumph on her face.

"No!" Emma shouted, using a burst of newly-controlled magic to break the icy prison the queen had placed her in. "You may have frozen his heart, but I'll be damned before I stand by and let you kill him."

The Snow queen laughed humorlessly. "And just what do you plan to do about it, _Savior_." How was it possible to infuse that much scorn into one word?

"I'll stop you!" Emma said, running forward, arms outstretched.

The queen brushed aside Emma's burst of magic with no more difficulty than it would take to brush away a feather. "Look around you, princess. The most magically powerful beings in all your land are held under my spell, and you think _you_ can defeat me?"

She had a point. Both Regina and Rumple stood imprisoned in icy jail cells not ten feet away, magical mittens encasing their powerful hands, gags around their mouths.

Point or no point, Emma wasn't giving up. She rushed to her pirate's side, took his face into her hands and stared deeply into his eyes. "Killian, I need you. Come back to me. I need your strength beside me. I…I can't do this alone."

Killian gave her a vacant, utterly disinterested look. It was like a vice around her heart. He'd been her knight, her anchor, her cheerleader, her jester, her confidence, her strength. She'd come to rely on his love like she'd never relied on anything in all her thirty years of life. And now it was just…gone.

The Snow Queen laughed again. "It's time to surrender dear. We all know how this is going to end. I'm going to terminate your pirate's worthless existence, and you're going to stand by and watch. The only question is…how many other people will join him? Shall I freeze your son? Your parents? Your baby brother? The choice is yours."

Emma stood in front of Killian, shielding him. The queen flicked her wrist, and Emma was sent sprawling a good ten feet away.

"I grow tired of this game," the queen said on a sigh. "We all know the truth. We all know that nothing but an act of true love will defeat me…and not just any true love, the true love of the one born of true love. And there's something else we all know. _You_ are not capable of true love. _You_ are not capable of letting go of your fear, your inadequacy, your pain, your anger. _You_ are not capable of giving in to your feelings for this man, and _you_ damn well aren't capable of fighting for him. Say goodbye Emma. You had your chance for a happy ending, and you let it go."

Emma's heart lurched painfully. She was right. The snow bitch standing before her was right. Killian had poured himself out for her, given her every fiber of his being, proven his willingness to do anything for her, but he'd never fully reached her. She'd pushed him away again and again and again and again. At first she'd feared to trust him, feared he would be like every other person in her life and leave her. Then she'd convinced herself that love, a normal life wasn't possible for the savior, then she'd feared harming him with her out-of-control magic. No matter what reason she'd given herself, she'd _never_ fought for him. Never fought for _them._

That ended now. It may be too late, she may not be able to save him, but it didn't matter. She would fight for him until her last breath.

The Snow Queen smiled, raised her hand, and released a burst of magic.

Emma didn't think, didn't analyze, just acted. She sprinted forward, stepping before Killian, spreading her arms wide and waited for the spell to connect with her.

Excruciating cold rushed over every part of her body, and then everything faded away.

…..

Killian watched dispassionately as Emma Swan ran toward him. He saw what she was about to do; he saw she was about to sacrifice herself for him. He thought he probably should stop her. It was rather bad form to merely stand by while another person put herself in danger on his behalf.

His head told him he should protect her, told him that he loved her, but his heart shrugged. When he looked at her, he felt…nothing.

It was common knowledge that being murdered was a rather unpleasant experience. If the Swan girl wanted to keep it from happening to him, who was he to object?

She stepped between him and the queen who was threatening his life. The spell connected and Emma quickly turned to ice. His brain told him he should scream in agony, run to her, desperately try to help her, but truth be told, he just couldn't be bothered. He couldn't care less if…

A tidal wave of iridescent energy pulsed from Emma and quickly engulfed everything in its path. Killian felt warmth pour over him, felt his heart melt within his chest. And then the pain washed in.

"No!" he screamed, running forward, taking his beautiful lass into his arms. She was so cold, so still, so stiff.

No! _No, no, no, no, no!_ It couldn't end like this! Not now, not when he loved her with every beat of his heart. Not when she'd just performed an act of true love _for him_! Wasn't true love supposed to conquer all?

And then the impact of what he'd just thought crashed around him. _True Love_! Emma felt true love for him! And if they shared true love, there was still one remedy left.

Killian surged forward and crashed his lips upon hers with such force he feared his lips would bruise. This had to work. _It had to!_

For a moment nothing happened, and then the lips beneath his turned back to soft, pliant flesh. Two strong, slim arms wrapped themselves round his neck. Emma, his Emma, his very life's blood whispered his name.

He crushed her to him, taking her lips with a desperation he'd never before known. She responded in kind; hands roaming, tongues tangling, arms, legs and very hearts entwined.

The sun burst out from behind the storm clouds, casting its warmth on everything it touched. The long winter had finally come to an end.

Killian smiled down into his lass's adoring eyes. It was over. After three hundred years, his one true love had finally thawed his frozen heart.

_Notes:_

_-I had every intention of NOT writing any more CS fanfiction…at least until the next hiatus, but what can I say? I'm weak. When someone asked if Emma would ever fight for Killian and A&E said "Absolutely", I said (and I quote) "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!", then I fangirled for a solid couple hours, and then this story happened. :-) _

_-In other news: Two more days, guys! Only two more days and we won't have to rely on fanfiction anymore; we'll have the real thing!_


End file.
